The Spokesman for the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security Li Zhong announced recently that the ministry is considering canceling some of the positions in colleges and public hospitals, which has aroused wide public concern.

Statistics show that up till now there are more than 8 million employees in China's public hospitals and about 2.33 million in colleges.

As the central government is making great efforts to promote streamlined administration and delegating power to the lower level to improve the efficiency of government services, it is right to reform the personnel management in public institutions.

Some places have accordingly already launched pilot projects and abolished some of the positions in State-funded hospitals and schools.

As the reform relates to more than 10 million employees, careful consideration needs to be given to the reforms and their implementation.

In addition, the public-service function of colleges and hospitals means that they should not become entirely market-oriented, thus the personnel management reform in colleges and hospitals should be advanced with caution.